''They caught him.''
Yukai confirmed, frustration lacing her voice.
''He's.....he's crying, Miana, he's crying! You know what might happen!''
Princess Lyra gazed at both women, who had looks of dread on their faces.
''I'll go.'' Miana spoke.
''Let me come with.'' She cut in. ''You're talking about Prince Kaelin, right?''
''No! Stay here!'' Miana objected, immediately racing down the hill back to the same town.
Miana sprinted down the hill, her heart racing with every step. She could hear the sound of screams and chaos growing louder. She burst into the town, her eyes scanning the scene before her.
The forest bandits had descended upon the town, their cruel laughter and shouts filling the air. Miana's gaze locked onto a group of bandits dragging Prince Kaelin away. He was struggling and crying, his small body trembling with fear.
She got to them in a flash, clasping her hands together.
''Please stop! Let's settle this!''
They all snickered, finding her words amusing.
''A pretty damsel is here. I haven't seen this one before.'' One of the men comments, his gaze locking lustfully on her.
''Why is the son of the great King Thrain here with the outcasts?'' Another spoke, his hand caressing the royal lace around his neck. He shifted the lace, and his eye locked on to the valuable belonging on his neck.
''Look at this.'' He called the attention of the others. It was a little lace, adorned with rare gemstones of different colors, that glittered in the dim light.
''This can make us rich forever.''
"Wait, please!" she begged, her voice laced with desperation. "Don't do this. It belongs to his dead mother. Let him go, for your own sake.''
The bandits hesitated, clearly taken aback by Miana's words. Their leader, a burly man with a scar above his eyebrow, sneered at her.
"What do you mean, 'for our own sake'?" he growled, his hand tightening around Prince Kaelin's arm. The prince cringed fearfully, his tears falling nonstop.
Miana took a step forward, her eyes pleading. "You don't know what you're dealing with," she whispered. "He's not like other children. He's...special. And if you harm him, you'll suffer the consequences."
The bandits exchanged nervous glances, their confidence wavering. But their leader snorted in derision.
"We're not afraid of some royal brat," he sneered.
Miana's eyes flashed with warning. "You should be," she hissed, her voice barely audible. "You have no idea what you're unleashing."
As she spoke, the wind began to pick up, rustling the leaves and sending shivers down the spines of the bandits. They faltered, their grip on Prince Kaelin loosening. He ran forward, but the leader held him back forcefully, pulling him back again.
''Urgh! Miana!''
The leader's face twisted in a snarl as he grabbed Prince Kaelin, holding him tight. "Shut him up!" he growled, pressing the blade of his dagger against the prince's neck.
Miana's eyes widened in horror as she froze, her hands raised in a plea. "No, please! Don't hurt him!"
Prince Kaelin's wails grew louder, his small body trembling with fear. The leader's grip tightened, the dagger pressing closer to the prince's delicate skin.
"Make him stop crying," the leader spat, "or I'll make sure he never cries again."
Miana took a step forward, her eyes locked on the dagger. "Please, don't," she whispered. "You don't understand what you're doing."
The leader's eyes flashed with anger. "I understand enough," he sneered. "I'll use this little heir's blood to start by dethroning the king."
Suddenly, Princess Lyra emerged from the woods, her face pale and frightened. "Stop!" she cried, rushing towards them. "Let him go!"
Yukai followed suit, her face twisted in fear. She held back the Princess from rushing forward.
The leader's gaze flicked to the princess, his expression calculating. "Ah, the royal bride," he sneered. "How nice of you to join us. They would make a good example for our rebellion to start against the king."
Miana's eyes darted between the leader and Princess Lyra, her mind racing.
''You! Shut him up!!'' He pointed to Miana. ''Shut him up, right now!!''
She seemed to agree to getting him to calm down, for reasons best known to her, but it came a little too late.
''Prince...''
''SHUT IT OUT!!'' The prince growls, his eye flickering red for a moment. Miana stumbles backward, her eye displaying pure fear.
Suddenly, he shut his eye tight and then flickered it open, and he began to cry. But it wasn't a normal cry - it was a low, keening wail that sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.
''Miana....Miana, help me.'' He cried. She.....she....woke up. She woke up! She woke up again!''
The leader lost it, anger visible on his scarred face, he pressed the dagger against the prince's neck, and slit his throat.
...
...
And then, everything went still. The wind died down, the trees ceased their creaking, and an unsettling silence fell over the clearing. Miana gasped, her bulging eyes out in shock.
''Aarrhh!'' He choked, his eye rolling up in pain, his blood mercilessly gushing out.
Princess Lyra burst out of Yukai's embrace, only to get stopped by Miana, who sprang up and pushed her back.
''We need to leave.''
''They killed the prince!!'' She protested, a feeling of pain surging through her.
''That's why we will leave!!'' Miana declared.
They pick a race back to a safe spot. Princess Lyra gazed back at him as she was forced to run. Her gaze was widely parted and she pointed back.
''His hair is growing....!!''
''Run!!''
The bandits' leader took a step back, his eyes darting nervously around the woods. "What's going on?" he whispered. ''Why is it silence?''
His blood soiled the earth, from his mouth and neck washing to their feet. The leader let go, hoping to release the little prince to fall, but his legs didn't waver. Instead, he slowly shut his eye and his lip stretched into a sinister smile.
They stumbled, their gaze on him.
Prince Kaelin's body began to twitch, his eye flashing open with an otherworldly blood intensity, his hair going as dark as a coal and longer than his height in a whole. His fingers growing into claws, dreadful and spitting. The cut on his neck, closing its mouth.
A low, menacing laughter bubbled up from his throat, growing louder, more sinister.
The leader stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear, as Prince Kaelin's laughter echoed through the forest.
His lip held laughter that echoed far beyond miles.
''Aaarrrggghhh!''
The bandits fled in terror; they fled into the darkness. The prince's laughter grew fainter, but no less unsettling. It was as if he had unleashed a malevolent force, one that would haunt them forever. The forest seemed to grow darker, more menacing, as they ran, the shadows twisting into sinister forms. Their heart raced as they run, but weren't given a chance to settle it out before he got to them at an unnatural speed. He step closer, his grin growing wider with every bare step.
His voice was hoarse, deep and dreadful
''Where are you going? It is Kaelin's turn.''
As he got closer, his hair grew longer and darker, like a wild tangle of night itself. His eyes blazed with an eerie red light, illuminating the forest with an otherworldly glow.
The bandits screamed as he caught up to them, his fingers closing around the leader's ankle like vice grips. He pulled him back, his grin twisting into a macabre smile.
The leader was off the ground in a second, screaming his lungs out at the dark vines that wrapped around his neck, sucking the lungs out of him. He cried desperately, fighting with the air as his pleading eye watched the prince cast him an eerie grin. He gagged and choked; he cried and pleaded, yet the prince just stared in absolute delight.
The rest fled, yelling for help.
His eye slowly darted in their direction; he licked his bloody lip and released an innocent smile, strolling deep into the forest in search of them
His grin grew wider as he stalked his prey, his eyes blazing with an eerie red light.
"Come out, come out, little bandits," he called, his voice dripping with malevolence. "You know I can see you."
He circled around a tree, suddenly stopping behind one who held his necklace.
''I see you.'' His voice came low and mocking
The bandits trembled as he turned around.
"P-please, prince...your Highness...," he stuttered. "We didn't mean to harm you."
Prince Kaelin chuckled, his laughter sending shivers down the spines of the bandits. "Oh, but you did," he whispered, his eyes glinting with cruelty. "You did."
The bandit tried to flee, but Prince Kaelin was too quick. He just raised his claws and shoved his all five into the man's neck, gripping tight on it so tightly that his claws touch each other inside.
The bandit's pleading eye rested on him as he grinned slowly, twisting the life out of him. Then, a branch snapped, drawing his abrupt attention to the lady trying to climb a tree.
He looks down at the branch and back up at her. ''A lady?'' He muttered.
One of the bandits, a young woman, tried to climb a tree, the prince just stared at her blandly, his expression unreadable yet confusing, almost like he was trying to find the point of her action. He then pulled his fingers out of the man's neck and stood up, his eye still fixed on her. She successfully got to the top and then looked down, her eyes almost popping at the sight of his eye on her.
She panted slowly, watching him, her mind fussing in regret. All their tantrum had always been easy to carry out. They never thought that there will be a day they would face death wish in the hands of a twelve-year-old.
His eyes were innocent and curious, his mouth slightly parted, and his hair was trashing around.
She gulped down; the stare went on, until he cowered down, bending his knee, that insane grin suddenly lighting his face, and he dashed toward the tree, climbing it in a second before she could take a breath.
She panicked, her mouth insanely parting in shock
''Aarrgh!! Aaarrrggghhh....''
He shoved his hand down her throat, cutting her off, his second hand digging into her hair like claws. She gagged painfully, tears filling her eyes as he slowly withdrew his hand from her mouth.
"Please, mercy!" she begged, but Prince Kaelin just smiled.
He jumped back, going down and dragging her along, making her land on her back. An act that caused great damage to her spine, cracking it, and rendering her instantly paralysed.
As he dragged her away, the woman's screams were drowned out by the sound of leaves and snapping twigs.
And soon, the most melancholy of voices whispered into the air.
''Who's next?''
TBC......🖊🖋